NEW YORK -- The Columbia Community Service
board has awarded the Columbia University women's soccer team the
Virginia Xanthos Award. Every year, the board of CCS gives
community grants to over 50 community organizations that provide
critical services and needs to thousands of underserved New
Yorkers.

"To be recognized for our community service is wonderful," head
coach Kevin McCarthy
says. "However, what makes this award even more significant is that
it empowers our program to continue being a force in the lives of
the young people we work with in the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation
and The Level The Field program."

The Virginia Xanthos Award is named after Virginia Xanthos, who
was a member of the CCS board and an employee of the Provost
Office, 15 years ago. The award is given to a campus group in
recognition of the work and support that they are doing in the
local community. The award includes a $1,000 check, which will be
used to further the team’s community work

The CCS Virginia Xanthos Award is not the first given to the
women's soccer team for its outstanding community service efforts.
The Lions were awarded the Paul E. Fernandes Community Service
Award at the 89th Annual Varsity C Celebration in May. The
award is given to the Columbia varsity sports program achieving the
most significant contributions and notable service to the
University and local communities during an academic year.

The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation matches a child with pediatric
brain tumors, who is in need of love, support and friendship, with
a college or high school sports team to improve the quality of life
for the child. Through a due diligence process, the foundation
screens for the best match based on the child and family's needs
and the team, coach and athletic director's commitment to our
foundation's goals.

Columbia adopted Ashley Gankiewicz, a young
girl with a rare form of pediatric brain cancer called
neurofibromatosis, in the spring of 2008. The team has kept in
touch with her through e-mail and phone calls ever since. The Lions
have invited Ashley to numerous practices and games, and the
relationship blossomed so much that the team held its own Penguin
Plunge, in conjunction with Ashley's in Nyack, N.Y., in the early
spring of 2009. The event raised more than $1,000, which was
donated directly to the Gankiewicz family to assist with rising
medical costs associated with fighting neurofibromatosis.

In addition to its work with Friends of Jaclyn, the women's
soccer team also finds time to give back to one of its own alumna's
not-for-profit organizations. Former women's soccer player Erica
Woda '04CC began Level The Field in March 2009 as a way of
empowering inner-city youth by providing a unique opportunity to
work with high-achieving collegiate student-athletes both inside
and outside of the classroom.

The Lions have taken many of the children involved in the
program under their wing, and have established bonds with the kids
through sport. A soccer clinic was held at Baker Athletics Complex
in April 2010, and many of the Columbia women's soccer players have
made their way up to Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning
School in Washington Heights to mentor the middle-school
students.

The Columbia Community Service Office, which is located in Earl
Hall, handles the distribution of all grants and awards to the
community.